HUMAN guinea pigs could soon be testing small quantities of experimental drugs, making it quicker and easier to weed out those that don鈥檛 work.
Nine out of ten experimental drugs don鈥檛 make it to market because of biochemical reactions that didn鈥檛 surface in the animal models. Now the US Food and Drug Administration has changed its testing criteria to help pinpoint such 鈥渄ud drugs鈥� before they ever get to clinical trials.
The minute quantities permitted by the new guidelines probably wouldn鈥檛 uncover every potential glitch, but should reveal some basic molecular behaviour, such as whether or not cancer drugs would be preferentially absorbed by tumours. It could also cut down on the number of animals used in drug research.
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But while the tiny amounts of drugs used in the studies should pose no danger, not everyone is convinced. 鈥淎nimal tests aren鈥檛 there just to show us how a drug works, but also how potentially harmful it is,鈥� says Sidney Wolfe, health research director at consumer advocacy group Public Citizen based in Washington DC. 鈥淲e should be careful that jumping over safeguards doesn鈥檛 sacrifice human health for the sake of saving money.鈥�
